Le Marche, Plus....

Transportation:

This was the part of the planning that was difficult to work out. Train service down the coast is good but to really explore the region, we knew that we'd need a car. We used a combination of trains, buses, and a rental car for 10 days.

After our first stop in Bologna, we headed for Urbino. We took a train from Bologna to Pesaro then, transferred to a bus for Urbino.

After 3 nights in Fano, we took a train to Ancona Airport to pick up a rental car from Athens Rental Car Company. We’ve used them in Greece and have always had a good customer service experience. We kept the rental car for 10 days, returning it to the Ancona Airport.

Bologna (4 nights):

We stayed at Albergo delle Drapperie - the location is great and staff very helpful but the hotel could use an update.

There are many excellent restaurants in Bologna. We found that we needed to plan ahead and make reservations for dinner. We liked meals at Trattoria Da Vito - located away from the city center; Trattoria Da Cesari - always good; and Cremeria Santo Stefano for gelato!

A tour of the University Library was fascinating!

Urbino (3 nights):

We took a train from Bologna to Pesaro then a one-hour bus ride from Pesaro to Urbino.
Albergo Italia is in a great location and very comfortable. The photos on their website don’t do it justice - we’d recommend it for its comfort and central location in the flat section of the city. Urbino is a university town with lots to see: The Ducal Palace, the Birthplace of Raffaello, the University Botanical Garden, and the
Oratorie of John the Baptist.

We ate several Crescia Sfogliata (traditional flatbread sandwich) at various places around town and enjoyed a nice dinner at .
KM Zero Cafe - a tiny place with indoor and outdoor seating.

Fano (3 nights):
We arrived by bus from Urbino. This was a replacement stop as recent floods in Senigallia made the city difficult for tourists (and locals too). We took a day trip to Senigallia but the city was still undergoing cleanup up from the flood waters - the destruction was heartbreaking. We hope that by now things are back in order.

In Fano, we stayed at Palazzo Rotati - a nice room in a great location.

Fano is a very pleasant town; a beach resort but very quiet off-season. It’s not a “must see” destination but we enjoyed our stay there.
We found an excellent seafood dinner at Ristorante Foradia.

After our stay in Fano, we took a train to the Ancona Airport to pickup a rental car which we kept for 10 days.

Drive to Fermo (3 nights):
It’s a hilltown with streets as hilly as those in Urbino.
We rented an apartment at Palazzo Romani Adami - I'd describe it as quirky and gloomy - it's not a place we'd recommend. If you have a rental car, parking is difficult to find. For a future trip there, we’d consider staying in nearby Porto San Giorgio.
For a small city, there are several interesting things to see in Fermo - the views from the town to the valley below are spectacular.
Pinacoteca Civica in the main museum in town. Highlights include a large wooden globe and a painting by Peter Paul Rubens. Also tours of the Roman Cistern and the Teatro Dell'Aquila were inexpensive with excellent guides. It would be fun to plan a stay when there is a performance scheduled in the Teatro.

Drive to Ascoli Piceno (4 nights) - there is a very nice underground parking lot there located at the edge of the city. The city is known for fried olives - not our thing but many people love them! There are many beautiful piazzas and restaurants with outdoor seating to explore. Our stay at Albergo Sant’Emidio was comfortable - nice staff and perfectly located.

Drive to Sirolo (2 nights) - small, touristy town with great views of the sea. We had an excellent seafood meal at Ricci in the nearby village of Numana. A two-night stay at perfectly fine, Hotel Sirolo was more than enough. We took day trips to Loreto (a hilltown famous for its Cathedral) and also to another interesting hilltown, Osimo.

Drive to Ancona (3 nights) - We’d heard mixed things about Ancona but since we needed to return the rental car at the airport there, we decided to stay in the city for three nights. We took advantage of off-season rates to stay near the port at Grand Palace Hotel. We had a fantastic room there and the service was first class. Ancona may not be everyone's favorite as it's a gritty city but we enjoyed exploring it. Getting haircuts at Salone Parigi from Luciano was a highlight. We got two very careful haircuts for 58 Euros. We visited the Archeological Museum (not one of the best we've seen) and had some delicious meals. The port is fascinating.

Train to Orvieto (3 nights) - we have visited this hilltown several times but this time it was the most crowded ever. We enjoyed a tour of the Etruscan and medieval caves and of course, the magnificent Cathedral. The Hotel Duomo was a good option very near the Cathedral.

Train to Rome (4 nights): - another super-crowded city! Since we’d visited the main sights on previous travels, we skirted them to find less-populated places. We enjoyed an aperitivo in the Monti neighborhood, views of the Colosseum at night, the fantastic Testaccio Market, and the Non-Catholic Cemetery of Rome. In spite of the crowds, we enjoyed staying in the Campo di Fiori neighborhood at Hotel Smeraldo and ate dinners at restaurants in nearby Trastevere.

It was a wonderful trip. The combination of train, bus and rental car worked well for us and we liked the mix of familiar cities and new to us destinations.

There is so much to see. We hope to return to Le Marche one day to explore all of the areas that we missed on this trip.

Thanks for posting this. I didn't see it earlier, because of Christmas holidays. I have thought of going to to this area and the transportation seems challenging. I was interested in how you managed.

Marsle - thanks for sharing both your planning post and follow up! We plan to visit Bologna and Le Marche in early September and this is most helpful…especially your train/bus/car info. We will only have about 7 nights to spend in this area and wondered if you had some ‘must sees’ since we won’t have the same amount of time to explore as you had.

Thanks much!
Janice

Hi Janice,

I'm glad that you're going to visit the LeMarche region. It really depends on what you like to do and see - it's such an interesting area but I can't point to any "must sees." Urbino is really nice - with 7 nights, maybe concentrate on 2 or 3 destinations from or near there. Urbino is very hilly so I'd suggest staying near the flatter part of the city center - Albergo Italia was a good choice for us.

Just enjoy the restaurants and any museums that might be of interest to you in the places that you chose to stay in.

If you're going to pick up a car, the airport in Ancona is a good location - it's a bit confusing to figure out how to get from the train station to the airport but just follow the crowd.

You can let me know if you have any specific questions! Have a great trip!

Enjoyed your reporting. And always looking for trips off the major tourist trails. Bookmarking for reference.